Subcommittee amends bill to require opioid, fentanyl prevention education at public colleges

A legislative subcommittee on Tuesday amended and advanced a bill that would require public institutions of higher education to provide opioid and fentanyl prevention education and awareness information to enrolled students.

Miss Grinstead described the measure to the panel, saying it would include "information on recognizing an opioid overdose," appropriate responses and the legal protections available to people who render aid or seek medical attention "pursuant to the South Carolina Overdose Prevention Act." She told members the bill would also allow institutions to obtain, possess, store and maintain overdose-reversal medications and require training on their administration for staff assigned to student residence halls.

The subcommittee adopted an amendment that removes private institutions from the bill and instead applies the requirement to public institutions only, relying on an existing statutory definition of "institution of higher learning." A motion to adopt the amendment was moved, seconded and approved; the transcript records that Senator Jackson's proxy was noted during the vote.

A committee member asked whether a fiscal-impact estimate had been received; Miss Grinstead said she had requested one from the state's RFA but had not yet received it. The record does not include an itemized vote tally or roll-call counts for the amendment.

The change narrows the bill's scope to public campuses while retaining provisions intended to increase student awareness of overdose recognition and response and to equip residence-hall staff with reversal medication training. The subcommittee moved on to other agenda items after approving a favorable recommendation on the amendment.